Man captured in squad car after chase

April 25, 2002|By Jerry Lawrence, Special to the Tribune.

A Waukegan man police shot during an alleged struggle early Wednesday managed to steal a squad car and lead officers on a 5-mile chase through three communities before he was captured, authorities said.

An officer shot the 29-year-old man several times in the left arm and torso, said Waukegan Police Chief Miguel Juarez.

Juarez said he couldn't explain how the wounded man--who had been doused with pepper spray--managed to take the officer's car and drive off.

"We don't know if he was under the influence of [any drugs]," Juarez said.

The suspect, who hadn't been charged late Wednesday, was listed in critical but stable condition in Lake Forest Hospital.

The incident began about 5:15 a.m. when the man jumped in the back seat of a limousine in the 1300 block of Pleasant Hill Gate in Waukegan, where the driver had just dropped off a passenger, Juarez said.

The driver called police, and when an officer arrived, the man attacked him with a metal flashlight, Juarez said.

The officer used his pepper spray, but the struggle continued, according to Juarez, who said the officer shot the suspect as he tried to climb into his squad car.

The police chief declined to identify the officer. He said he wasn't sure how many times the man was shot but that he had several bullet wounds.

A preliminary report indicated the shooting was justified, Juarez said.

"I don't believe there is anything our officer did wrong, at this point," he said.

Despite his wounds, the suspect got into the squad car and headed south to Illinois Highway 137, then east to Illinois Highway 43, where he pulled over and stopped in unincorporated Lake County near Green Oaks.

Officers from Waukegan and the Lake County Sheriff's Department had been following the car. When one of the officers approached the vehicle and tried to pull the man out, the suspect drove away, dragging the officer.

The suspect finally hit a curb and stopped near Illinois Highway 176 in Lake Bluff, where he was arrested, police said.

The officer dragged by the car and the one who shot the suspect were treated for minor injuries at a hospital, Juarez said.